Our seventeenth recipient, Major General Melvin G. Carter, completed the AMP at Harvard Business School in October 2016.  “Jerry” is currently serving as the AC/S G2, II Marine Expeditionary Force.  He is a MAGTF Intelligence Officer with in-depth experience in Special Operations and Strategic Intelligence.  Additional intelligence staff assignments include S-3A, 2d Radio Battalion, II Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Intelligence Group (SRIG), S-2A, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operation Capable), G-3 Plans, I MEF, Executive Officer for the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency as well as the Executive for the Director, Associate for Military Affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency.  Other career highlights include service as the Intelligence Officer for the newly established Marine Corps Special Operation Command, Detachment One (MCSOCOM DET ONE), the J2 for the Naval Special Warfare Task Group, Arabian Peninsula, the J2 for the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command, Arabian Peninsula and the Coalition J2 for the Special Operation Joint Task Force Afghanistan.  Jerry’s combat tours include contingency operations in support of Operation Joint Endeavor with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operation Capable), Operation Anaconda with 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operation Capable), Operations Balkan Justice and Restore Freedom with the Joint Special Operations Command, and Operations Iraqi Freedom I and II with I and II MEFs.  His personal awards include the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Bronze Star with the Gold Star in lieu of third award, the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star, the Joint Commendation Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Joint Achievement Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with gold star, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.  Jerry graduated from Morehouse College with a BA. in Banking and Finance in 1992.  His formal military schooling includes the Command and Control Systems Course, the MAGTF Intelligence Officer Course and the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Intelligence Course.  He also served as the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University where his research focused on the U. S. Department of Defense’s ability to achieve Cyberspace Superiority.  He is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University and his thesis is titled, “The 21st Century Marine Corps Intelligence Activity–Innovative, Responsive and Resilient.”

Jerry and his wife, Angela, have two children.